Federal Criminal Defense and Other Federal Matters

A National, Client-Focused, Boutique Practice Devoted To Complex Federal Criminal Defense, Federal  Habeas Litigation, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Select Federal Civil Litigation And Other Federal Matters.

Ezekiel E. Cortez is a Board Certified Criminal Law Specialist, California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization, after passing the federal specialist examination.

As a devoted career federal criminal defense attorney and trial attorney, Mr. Cortez has unwaveringly devoted his practice to the defense of federal criminal cases and other federal matters since 1984, when he began his practice as a federal community defender at Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc.

Since 1988, Mr. Cortez has also handled post conviction Habeas Corpus Litigation of unique cases, involving ineffective assistance of counsel and other issues. Mr. Cortez also handles selected federal civil matters.
Mr. Cortez's legal ability and ethical conduct have lead him to be AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®.

For more than fifteen years, Mr. Cortez has been continuously listed in The Best Lawyers In America — a national standard of excellence for the legal profession. Mr. Cortez has been listed in San Diego Magazine's "Best Lawyers In San Diego" in 2001 and 2005-2012, as one of only a handful of elite criminal defense lawyers once described by the magazine as the type of lawyer that other "attorneys would go to if they needed a [federal criminal defense] lawyer." Mr. Cortez has also been listed in Super Lawyers continuously since 2007 in the edition of California: San Diego, Criminal Defense: White Collar and Corporate Counsel categories as one of the "Seriously Outstanding Top 5%" in his field. Mr. Cortez has also been selected by the prestigious U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers/Best Law Firms, since 2010.

As an ambassador for his profession, Mr. Cortez was twice awarded Fulbright Scholarships in October 2003 and in 2004 by the State Department to teach the American system of adversarial jury trial techniques to Chilean defense attorneys, prosecutors and judges at the University of Concepción, and in Temuco, Chile. Mr. Cortez has taught Criminal Justice Administration at San Diego State University and at Moscow University (MGU) in Moscow, Russia. He has also taught trial skills and techniques as an adjunct professor at the University of San Diego and at California Western Schools of Law and has frequently taught advanced trial techniques to experienced trial lawyers for CACJ, NACDL and various trial institutes.

Cordialmente invitamos a clientes de habla hispana.

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Office Location
Law Offices of Ezekiel E. Cortez, APC
1010 Second Avenue
Suite 1850
San Diego, CA 92101   
Telephone: 619-237-0309
Fax: 619-237-8052

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